Traditionally, in order to stop bleeding wounds, for example when an artery is bleeding, healthcare workers have applied digital pressure to the wound by manually pressing against the wound. Unless the patient is able to provide the digital pressure himself, this manual digital pressure procedure for controlling bleeding if often time-consuming for a healthcare provider administering the procedure, thus significantly adding to the medical treatment costs.
Attempts have been made to provide pressure dressings that simulate the application of digital pressure exerted from a healthcare provider or the patient. U.S. Pat. No. 3,490,448 (Grubb) discloses an adhesive pressure bandage generally consisting of a pad attached to the center of a single-sided strip of tape. That design has been found to provide very limited pressure to a puncture site due to the fact that the two opposing ends of tape adhered to a patient's skin tend to be drawn toward each other, thus reducing the downward pressure exerted by the pad. U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,610 (Ito et al.) discloses a similar pressure bandage wherein the adhesive strip covering the pressure pad is formed from a stretchable material having a high recovery property. This high recovery property promotes shrinking of the material after being extended to cover the wound. Ito et al. teach that the shrinking action of the base material atop of the pressure pad causes the pressure pad to be pressed downward as the base and the skin surrounding the pressure pad are pulled toward the pad. This device is disruptive to the skin surrounding the wound. U.S. Pat. No. 5,891,074 (Cesarczyk) discloses a pressure bandage incorporating a compressed spring held against a wound by a cover adhered to the skin. Cesarczyk teaches using a folded sheet of fold-resistant material to exert pressure to exert a downward force against the wound site as it attempts to open to an unfold state. The drawback of this springing pressure device is that the springing action of the folded sheet is exerted in both an upward and downward direction. Thus, the spring exerts a force upwardly against the cover, pulling the skin inwardly toward the wound, and thus reducing the effectiveness of the downward pressure.
It would be desirable to provide a pressure dressing adapted so that a greater amount of the force exerted by the pressure pad is directed downwardly toward the wound. It would further be desirable if such pressure dressing caused minimum pulling of the skin surrounding the wound.